Education activists call for an ‘honest’ approach from the Western Cape Education Department as the deadline for 2024 applications nears.
Parents for Equal Education SA (PEESA) founder, Vanessa Le Roux, has said that WCED must consider the energy and internet challenges faced by communities as the race to have children registered for next year’s academic year closes on Friday.
“At this point, we would like to appeal to the WCED to have an approach of leaving no child behind when it comes to applications, they must have an honest approach with communities with regards to their challenges.
“What we experience on the ground is two worlds apart. We need to know the exact number of unplaced learners and how they will deal with the issue of unplaced learners. It doesn't take rocket science to know it doesn't assist or serve any child grade 1 or 8 to put work on a portal that he/she never dealt with in their lives,” she said.
Le Roux said that the lack of internet is one of the biggest hindering factors in ensuring children have applied online on time.
“These children that are not placed are being labelled as drop-outs. We need the Department to own up to their shortcomings and say, we have failed to provide basic education to these children, and we have grossly violated their constitutional right,” she said.
WCED MEC David Maynier said that the most crucial thing for parents to remember is to apply on time.
“Don’t wait! Applications close at 23:59 on Friday, April 14, 2023. It is extremely important for parents to apply on time for the coming school year so that we can plan more effectively for places for their children.
Maynier also encouraged parents to apply for more than one school. He also said parents should make sure to check the admissions policies of the schools applied to and whether there are any special requirements for the schools (e.g. a Maths and Science focus school may have additional requirements related to these subjects).
Finally, he urged parents to make sure to upload the supporting documents required for the application or a police affidavit if any of the documents were not available.
Maynier said that a majority of first-time registrations (having never been in a school in the Western Cape province before) continue to come from the Eastern Cape.
“We do take this into account in our planning, but it becomes difficult when the parents only apply after the deadline, and sometimes up to a year late,” he said.
Previously, WCED said that parents had a statutory duty to send their children to school and that the state had legal recourse on that matter, as stipulated in section 3(1) of the SA Schools Act 84 of 1996, which states: “Every parent must cause every learner for whom he or she is responsible to attend a school from the first school day of the year in which such learner reaches the age of seven years until the last school day of the year in which such learner reaches the age of fifteen years or the ninth grade, whichever occurs first.”
The department said failure to comply could see the parents investigated and fined or imprisoned.